Improvement in torpedoes for oil-wells



S. L. KING. Torpedo for Oil-Wells.

Patented Nov. 18,1879.

I @EEEE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SILAS L. KING, ()l BRADFORD, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT lN TORPEDOES FOR OIL-WELLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 221,830, dutcd November 18, 1879; application filed May 7 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SILAS L. KING, of Bradford, in the county of McKean and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a. new and useful Improvement in Torpedoes for Oil-Wells, of which the following is a specification, reference being lied to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates more especially to the construction of the shell or casing of that class of torpedoes which are exploded in oilwells for opening the oil-hearing seams of the surrounding rock. These torpedo'shells are generally made in one piece, and of various lengths, according to the charge which they are designed to contain, as the diameter of the shell is limited by the size of the bore of the Well.

Torpcdoes of this kind which are desi ned to hold a heavy charge are made very long, sometimes reaching a. length of iittccn feet or more, and are consequently very unwioldl y and inconvenient in transporting, handli g. and filling. This mode of construction is further objectionable, as it necessitates the keepmg on hand ofa. large-number of shells varying in length or capacity, from which :issortr ment the shell which answers the requirements of a particulnr case has to be selected.

The object of my invention is to remedy these difficulties; and it consists, first, in constructing the torpedo-shell of sections of tin, sheetiron, or other thin inetal, and providing the ends of the sect-ions with screw-couplings arranged within the sections, whereby any de sired number of sections can be readily scoured together when required for forming :1 torpedo of the desired size; also, in the par ticular construction of the couplings, as hereinut'ter full y set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a. sectional elevation of my improved torpedo. Fig.2 is a. similar View, showing the shellconstructcd with a reduced portion. Fig. 3 is a detached sectional View, on an enlarged scale,

of the screw-couplings by which the sections are secured together.

Like letters of reference designate like parts in the several figures.

A represents the upper section of the torpedo-shell, provided with an exploding device of any ordinary and Well-known construction. 13 is the bottom section of the shell, having it closed conic-n1 bottom of the usual form.

0 represents the intermediate sections, constructed with open ends, and secured to each other and the top and bottom sections by a screwconpling consisting of a. ring or annular flange, e, soldered to the open end of one section, and provided with a mole screw-thread, f, and a similar ring, 8, soldered to the open end of the adjacent section, and having a to male screw-thread, f.

A packing-ring, g, of rubber or other suit able material, is preferably arranged between the rings is c'in securing the sections together to'f'orni n. tightjoint.

The sections A B (J are made as nearly as possible of uniform length, preferably about twenty inches, so that they can be pitched in a small space for trni'isportotion.

In using my improved torpedo a number of sections capable of holding the charge which is intended to be employed are secured together and filled with the explosive. The torpcdo is then lowered into the well, and ex ploded in any ordinary and well-known mannor.

It frequently happens that the strata of oil bcorin g rock are separated by non-productive strata of shale-rock. In such cases itis desir able to place between the torpedo-sections A. and B in Fig. 2, which receive the explodingchu-rgcs, o. connecting portion, H, of reduced diameter and of proper length, by which the two torpedoes A and B are held at such a distance apart that when the upper torpedo, A, is opposite the upper stratum of oil-homing rock the lower torpedo will be opposite the lower stratum of oil-bearing rock. The coin heating-tube H is filled with the explosive, and serves at the some time as a connectingfnse, so that both torpedoes will be exploded at the some time.

It is obvious that each torpedo A B may consist of any required number of sections, and that the connecting'tuhe H is also preferobly made in sections, secured together in the some manner as the sections of the torpedo proper.

J claim as my inventi0nand 106111011 within the end; 0!" the sections,

1. A torpedo-shell eons-truetedef sections of so as to preserve a smooth exlerior when the till,SIlCGt'lIOIHOIOl-IIUI thtilrmetahaml hnring; seetiene zn'e oonneeled, substantially as set the ends of contiguous seetions provided with l'erlhi l i an intenierlyarranged sereweoupling, e 0, x 1 3 substantially as endfor the purpose set forth. BIL/b KlNG' 2. The eoupling foreonneeting the different Witnesses; I

sections of the shell, consisting of the rings or Juo. J. BONNER,

flanges c'e', prorided with seren threods ff, New. J. 131m DY. 

